Anghami, the only legal digital music service in the Middle East, has just launched in public beta, with the largest catalogue of Arabic and International licensed content. Exclusive invites to the much anticipated app can now be requested on Anghami.com.

Gone are the days of cumbersome CD collections, complicated file transfers between computer and mobile, and low quality, virus-infected downloads. Anghami is an app which provides its users with a seamless experience to listen to unlimited music on-the-go on their mobile. With millions of songs to search from, stream, download and share, Anghami makes listening to music enjoyable again.

This initiative comes as a result of the absence of a comprehensive and trusted music platform catering to the Arab world and aims to be a legal alternative to piracy. Based out of Beirut and co-founded by Eddy Maroun, a musician by heart, and Elie Habib a tech veteran, Anghami intends to become every music fan's hub from which they can instantly play any Arabic and International song wherever they are - in the car, at the gym, or on the beach. Subscribed users can also discover new music catered to their taste, share tracks in real-time with friends on social networks, create playlists and follow those of their friends, and download as many songs as they'd like for offline play. Today, all these features are available on Anghami's iPhone app, with Android, BlackBerry, Nokia and web versions coming in the next few weeks.

Commenting on the launch, Eddy Maroun stated: "Both Elie and I share a true passion for music and technology. This project is the fruit of 2 years of hard work and endless negotiations with reputable music houses, in the aim of bringing to the Arab world a comprehensive library of millions of old and new Arabic and International tracks in a delightful user-experience."

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Elie Habib also stressed on the importance of such a platform saying: "Music CDs are already considered "passé", just like music tapes faded away several years back. Today, many cars and music home appliances don't even support CDs anymore. We're in the cloud computing era. Why not have all the music we want everywhere, anytime, without the hassle of carrying CDs or downloading/syncing devices?"

"As music fans, it was imperative that we come up with an appealing solution that satisfies a growing need for a decent and comprehensive music offering", Maroun added. Anghami has partnered with leading regional music labels and aggregators such as Rotana, the largest Arabic music label (with exclusivity for streaming in Saudi Arabia, UAE and Lebanon), Melody, Mazzika, Platinum Records and others. Anghami is also the only music streaming service in the region to feature content from the International major labels such as Sony Music, EMI, Warner and others. "We are continuously licensing new content from indie bands and major labels", says Maroun. To optimize sound quality, Anghami's music is powered with the latest Dolby Pulse encoding for fast audio transmission, ensuring a smooth listening experience despite the lagging internet connection in parts of the region.

"The excitement we've been witnessing from both consumers and businesses has been incredible", says George Audi, Anghami's Strategy & Business Development Manager. "Thousands of music fans have signed up for our pre-launch, and we are being approached by multiple partners in the region. We are excited about the upcoming opportunities to work with mobile operators, device manufacturers, entertainment and advertising agencies to bring music to an even broader audience. The spectrum of partnerships is truly endless."

Anghami is the largest digital music project in the region and is backed by Middle East Venture Partners. Earlier this year, Anghami was selected as a finalist for Red Herring's Top 100 Asia award, a prestigious list honoring the year's most promising private technology ventures from the Asian business region.

This is only the beginning of what Anghami co-founders call the "future of digital music consumption". While the public beta is still in exclusive mode, interested users can request their invite code on Anghami.com and try out the app firsthand for free for a limited period.

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